Isaiah 43:16-21 Commentary: The God Who Makes a Way

The historical background of Isaiah 43:16-21 is the Babylonian exile. The people are in captivity, and the prophet speaks words of comfort and promise. The exodus from Egypt was the defining event of Israel’s identity, and here God invokes that memory to establish his power and faithfulness. The “former things” are the exodus wonders; the “new thing” is the return from Babylon. In 539 BC, Cyrus conquered Babylon and allowed the exiles to return (Ezra 1:1-4). The journey back went through the Syrian desert, a barren region. The promise of “a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert” would have been vivid and encouraging. The mention of wild beasts (jackals, ostriches) heightens the miraculous provision: even the desert creatures benefit. This new exodus would surpass the old, not in dramatic sea-splitting, but in the sheer scope of salvation, the restoration of a people to their land and their God. The imagery also points beyond the return to a future redemption, as the NT authors would later see Christ’s work as a new exodus (Luke 9:31).

Culturally, the exodus was not just a memory but a pattern. The prophets frequently drew on it to frame God’s future acts. The command “do not remember the former things” is not an erasure of history but an invitation to focus on what God is about to do. The participle “who makes a way” (v.16) shifts from past event to present attribute: this is who God always is. The language of “springing forth” (v.19) uses the verb tsamach, often used for plant growth, suggesting a gradual but certain emergence, like new life after winter.

The supplied sources note no significant textual variants for this passage. The Hebrew text is consistent across the major manuscript traditions. The main translational difference is the rendering of animal names (dragons/owls/jackals/ostriches), which does not affect the theological point of creation’s praise.

Early church fathers frequently read this passage as prophecy of Christ’s work. Irenaeus linked the “new thing” to the incarnation, where God made a way through the wilderness of human sin. In the Reformation, Calvin and the Geneva Notes applied the text primarily to the return from Babylon while also acknowledging its Christological depth. Wesley focused on the Messiah as the supreme new thing, making earlier deliverances pale in comparison. Gill pushed further, interpreting the wilderness way and rivers as the Gentile world being brought to faith, a people formed for praise out of spiritual desolation. Modern critical scholarship (Cambridge, Keil & Delitzsch) returns to the historical referent of the Babylonian exiles, while evangelical preaching often keeps both layers: the immediate restoration and its ultimate fulfillment in Christ.

Three-point outline

1. The God who delivered in the past (vv.16-17), He divided the sea and crushed Pharaoh’s army. This is the foundation: the same God speaks now.
2. The God who promises something new (vv.18-19), He tells us not to dwell on past miracles, because he is about to do something even greater. A way in the wilderness, water in the desert.
3. The people formed for praise (vv.20-21), Deliverance has a purpose: that a people would declare God’s glory. The new exodus creates a new worshipping community.

Five-point outline

1. Introduction: God’s self-identification as the Redeemer (vv.14-15, leading into v.16).
2. Recalling the Red Sea: a foundation for faith, not a limit to expectation (vv.16-17).
3. The command: stop dwelling on the past, something unprecedented is coming (v.18).
4. The content of the new thing: a highway through harsh terrain, water where none exists (v.19).
5. The result: creation itself joins the chorus as God’s formed people declare his praise (vv.20-21).

Illustration hooks

• A family savings jar: old coins remind you of past provision, but a new job changes everything, you stop counting coins because a far greater income arrives.
• GPS recalculating: you keep looking at the old route that’s blocked; the voice says “turn around, get on this new road.” The new path is better.
• Spring after a hard winter: the ground looked dead, then shoots break through. You can’t see it at first, but growth is already happening.

Questions your congregation is asking

• How do I trust God for a “new thing” when my past experience of Him seems so defining?
• Does “don’t remember the former things” mean I should forget answered prayers and past goodness?
• What if the new thing seems impossible, like water appearing in the actual desert of my life?

God doesn’t just repeat his wonders; he does something even greater. The exodus was not the end, it was a pattern for future deliverance. In this passage, God recalls his greatest past act only to say that what he is about to do will overshadow it. Discuss how this shapes our hope when we are stuck in the middle of hardship.

Discussion questions

1. Read vv.16-17. Why do you think God reminds the people of the Red Sea crossing before announcing a new thing? (Consider the cultural weight of the exodus.)
2. In v.18, God says “don’t remember the former things.” What does this mean? Is he telling them to be ungrateful for past deliverance? (Look at Barnes’ and Cambridge’s comments.)
3. Verse 19 uses farming language: “It springs out now.” What does the verb tsamach (to sprout) suggest about how God works?
4. The promise includes water in the desert and rivers in the wilderness. Why does the prophet expand the supply from “water” (Exodus) to “rivers”? What does that abundance say about God’s character?
5. Verse 20 says even wild animals honor God because of the provision. What does creation’s response teach us about worship? (See Clarke and Barnes on the poetic image.)
6. Verse 21: “The people which I formed for myself, that they might declare my praise.” Why does God form a people? How does deliverance lead to worship?
7. How might this passage have encouraged the exiles, and how can it encourage someone facing a seemingly impossible situation today?